Vitebsk doctors performed a unique heart surgery

A patient born in 1944 was admitted to the clinic with complaints of shortness of breath, palpitations, and irregular heartbeat. During the examination, it was found that in 2011, he underwent radiofrequency ablation of the heart for atrial fibrillation. Now, during the examination, the man was diagnosed with myocardial ischemia and impaired local contractility, as well as fluid in the pericardial sac.

It was decided to perform coronary angiography under local anesthesia. This study revealed a giant aneurysm (dilation) of the circumflex branch of the left coronary artery, which was complicated by a tear. Its size was more than two centimeters, which was more than six times the diameter of the unchanged vessel. Considering the threat to health and life posed by such a formation, the doctors decided to immediately exclude it from blood flow and place a stent graft in the coronary artery.

Prior to this, no such operations had been performed in any region of the country. Surgeons from the regional hospital and the Department of Surgical Diseases of Vitebsk Medical University, Vladislav Derkach, Sergey Nikolaykin, Viktor Voronyaev, Denis Pilant, under the guidance of the head of the department, chief X-ray endovascular surgeon of the Vitebsk region, Andrey Kutko, successfully coped with the task.

The procedure lasted about an hour and was performed through a two-millimeter puncture in the femoral artery. Without a single incision! The patient remained conscious throughout and communicated with the operating team. Immediately after the operation, he was transferred in satisfactory condition under the doctor's observation to a room in the cardiology department.

Just a few years ago, such a patient would have required open-heart surgery on a stopped heart. Today, patients in the X-ray operating department have access to the most modern technologies that save lives and very soon return them to their daily duties.

Vera Bassalai, "Vitbichi"